1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a plasma display panel (PDP). More particularly, the present invention relates to a plasma display panel in which a sustain discharge can be induced by an opposed discharge.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a plasma display panel (PDP) is a display device in which vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) rays emitted from plasma by gas discharge excite phosphors to generate visible light, thereby crating images. As the plasma display panel enables a wide screen with a high resolution, it has been in the spotlight as a future generation flat panel display.
A plasma display panel of a three-electrode surface-discharge structure may be taken as an example of a general plasma display panel. In the three-electrode surface-discharge structure, display electrodes are formed on a front substrate by pairs, and address electrodes are formed on a rear substrate apart from the front substrate by a predetermined gap. A space between the front substrate and the rear substrate is divided into a plurality of discharge cells by barrier ribs. In each discharge cell, a phosphor layer is formed on the rear substrate. Discharge gas is filled in the discharge cells.
Whether a discharge cell is to be discharged or not is determined by an address discharge between the address electrode and one of the display electrodes. A sustain discharge, by which an image is actually displayed, is achieved by the display electrodes formed on the same plane. That is, the address discharge is induced by an opposed discharge, and the sustain discharge is induced by a surface discharge.
Though a length between one of the display electrodes and the address electrode is larger than the length between the display electrodes, a discharge firing voltage of the address discharge is smaller than a discharge firing voltage of the sustain discharge. It has been known that, since the address discharge is induced by an oppose discharge, the discharge firing voltage of the address discharge is smaller than that of the sustain discharge which is induced by a surface discharge. Accordingly, it can be seen that a plasma display panel capable of generating a sustain discharge by an opposed discharge has higher efficiency than a conventional plasma display panel.
A discharge space in a plasma display panel is divided into a sheath region and a positive column region by the discharge generated in a plasma display panel. The sheath region is a non-emitting region which is formed to surround electrodes or dielectric layers and most of the voltage is consumed in the sheath region. The positive column region is an emitting region in which plasma discharge is actively generated by a very small voltage. Accordingly, it is important to enlarge the positive column region in order to increase the efficiency of a plasma display panel. Since a length of the sheath region is not related to a discharge gap, the positive column region is enlarged to extend a discharge length. However, when the discharge gap is enlarged to extend the discharge length, it may generate an increase in the required discharge firing voltage.
As such, a low discharge firing voltage and high efficiency cannot be achieved simultaneously in the conventional plasma display panel.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.